The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3. TRADE RETURNS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 8, 3 February 1909, Page 2

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3. TRADE RETURNS.

the mstwiHi ° f thc . trado ri;l, '™ s seirt It: J '° WS , '= i,t "1 1011 ll »' l>re-stiJHgi-uc) JJI tin; moan l market >,u'z r l thu il «" r " s thai v ' UOW »""•'' more mau we aie exporLuig, and ulll i| f]l|l that v S ' le " iUljl,stl -' a il »ot likely ui.it any improvement will 1,„ f e lt hj, conditions. Already, ft*™,* r is being shown in our j ,' u the gur« for the past quarter law n^ c °vT rcd with • llus i cpi a ciilß're.'ice of r iu T on ' 0,1 uiu ° uit ' l ' '""x' to cxpoits show a tailing-oil', u,e ij.r. beiiM' i''l 'i'"'' V. 1 ; 1 ' 1 ' 1 "'"-' 1 ' fJ'wLer of J9US ,8 U '' ! and for the corresponding period of IHU7 i;3,«3,!«t'. lint a» explained by the Wellington Times n it, issue of Monday, the total value "I exports varies considerably in t| IP bung bat from January l. st t „ .March of ii, i' r* 10 i, " r mit - Of the Whole year's exports are despatched. ill,. December quarter is specially subject to uncertainty ami lluctiiatum, as there is often pressure t" n't vessels away | w .fore the New Yenand the efforts to I hat cll'ect mav may not bo successful. Even if successI'll the export entries will | H . recorded until a week or so later, thus bringing them probably into the following month and year. Thus it happen hl,t l ;"'° or <- h ''ce heavy cargoes m„y leave in the last days of December, and 110110 ot the goods be entered in the official records till after the turn of the year ilie. December quarter cannot, therefore, he accepted as an indication o the probable result of Hie. season Moreover, there i 5 A . as on to believe that the export valuations of woo] arc this year much more reliable j.nd aeeuin the carlv part Of the 1.10,-S season, (lie hitler must be accepted with a substantial discount Oil account of the fall that subsequentv look place in the market. The return to March :u,l. will give more reliable indications, nml as the s ,.n„on advances the Times expects lo see Die com parison willi (lie preceding year show more favourably.

Tlw exports for a twelvemonth end-' nig with December 31st compare as follows with recent similar returns: Year ending Including Excluding Uw '- -'lst- Specie. Specie. £ IWK J.">,b;i0.047 Hi, 042,(1",n MOO .. 18,003.137 17JKI-MBO IWI7 ■■ 20.1171,110!! 20,0(i4'->n:] 19'W ■■ 10,3)7.M1 1K.075/2.W Tin- total for 1008, apart fromspecie, though showing a drop of ,C4,000.0|I() for tin? year, is only below the total for llio:. by between C.300,000 and .CIiOO.OOO. lile factor, however, whieh is more directly responsible for tlio present, financial inconvenience is the great increase in tile volume of our imports, which during the same years compare as follows: Year ending Including Excluding Occ. 31st. Specie, Specie. " ■C e l !| 0."> .. 12.820.001 I ■2.470,012 1000 .. 1.",.211,40.1 14,: «)H, 170 1007 .. 17,302,700 I (>,.-,30.(142 1008 .. 17.471/284 17.247,1(11 Apart From specie, the increase in three years is nearly .1V>,000.000. in spite of the reduction of WOO,OOO in the latest (juarter. and the total of imports i- still in excess of that of exports. II rs. however, something lliat tlie retrenchment has begun in tile former. \\V fully expected (continues onr eontemporarv) to see it continued still more markedly i:i the current, and subsequent i|uarters. If our anticipations are realised, we mav hope that by the cud of Ihe current produce year, say bv June 30th or September 301 h. we may see a. much better proportion established between our exports and imports. The Customs revenue returns for the last two yeai's compare as follows: 1007 100S

s P ij 'Ha .. .Ilia, 214 0(14.113 ille and beer .. 70,0a0 li!) !)7<l tobacco .. .j00.2!l() Sugar .. KiUjin. tjoods by weight 22.">,7,i2 201,033 'foods ail valorem 1,317,180 1.202,04 a Other duties .. 108,701 2(tM:!()

07(1,422 l'.2,i)l(3,l)!)l) Ihe lolal shows a decrease of U170,:132 ol which U 100,011 is accounted for by sugar alone, the duty on which lias been repealed. The latest cpiarter shows fall-nig-01l in several items, but the complete year shows increase in both spirits and tobacco, showing that people arc not economising in those directions. The talling-01l in goods by value and goods by weight are fully accounted for bv remissions of duty on dried fruits, cotlons, linens. ~u . , n , v j,, u . ,| f t | K ,^ ( , returns suggests the idea that there '|» little or no diminution ill Ihe spendingpower ol the community, or. at all events, in 1h" disposition' to spend, and that the reduction in imports is at-I trihiiliiblc chiclly, if not entirely, to the J excessive stm-ks held by importers.